SK Hynix hikes use of locally produced neon gas for chip manufacture

SK Hynix Inc., the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, said on Wednesday it will significantly raise the use of locally produced neon, a critical gas for semiconductor manufacturing, to reduce its reliance on imports.

The South Korean company said it earlier this year succeeded in developing neon gas production technology in partnership with TEMC Co., a Korean specialty gas producer, and POSCO, the steelmaking unit of POSCO Holdings Inc.

Most Korean chipmakers and microelectronic device makers rely on imports for their neon gas needs.

SK Hynix, which started using domestically produced neon gas in April, said it has raised the proportion of Korean neon gas to 40% of its total use. The company aims to hike the ratio to 100% by the end of 2024.

Neon is required for excimer lasers or ultraviolet lasers that are used in a chip production process known as lithography, where machines carve patterns onto tiny pieces of silicon made by the likes of Samsung Electronics Co., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), Intel Corp. and SK Hynix.

SUPPLY HIT BY RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

The protracted war between Russia and Ukraine has caused the production of neon gas to fall to worryingly low levels when the world was already grappling with a chip shortage.

As a buffer gas in krypton and argon lasers used in lithography that underpins chipmaking, neon is used in large quantities.

Ukraine dominates global production of the essential semiconductor process gas as more than half of the world’s neon is produced by a handful of companies in the country.

“Through close cooperation with Korean companies, we will further strengthen our raw materials supply chain,” said Yoon Hong-sung, vice president and head of SK Hynix’s fab materials procurement department.

Write to Sungsu Bae at baebae@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.